Data & Analytics

Armonk, N.Y. -- With consumers engaging more directly with businesses through mobile and social media, more than 60% of CIOs will focus more heavily on improving the customer experience and getting closer to customers, according to a new report released by IBM.

The report, entitled "Moving from the Back Office to the Front Lines — CIO Insights from the Global C-suite Study” is based on face-to-face conversations with more than 1,600 CIOs from 70 countries and 20 industries worldwide.

Lakewood, Colo. -- Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc. has adopted MicroStrategy as its enterprise analytics standard. The company said an expansion of MicroStrategy licenses will allow it to rapidly deploy and extend its mobile application that provides store-level information to its management team.  

Vancouver, Canada -- PayWith Inc. has launched a new smartphone app called the mCard that simply and securely enables in-store transactions with mobile devices. PayWith has signed a North American license agreement with a global payment network that allows PayWith to provide merchants and consumers with a secure and convenient smartphone-based payment, loyalty rewards, and commission sales solution.

Austin, Texas -- RetailMeNot has updated its free RetailMeNot Coupons app for iPhone and Android users. Existing users will be prompted to update their RetailMeNot Coupons app to access the new features.

New users can download the free RetailMeNot Coupons app by visiting the iTunes App Store or Google Play. The updated version includes significant consumer-facing enhancements to the experience, including:

Mexico City -- Yelp Inc. has announced the availability of Yelp Mexico. Beginning March 13, people throughout Mexico are able to create accounts on Yelp.com.mx to share their opinions about great local businesses.

Yelp's free iPhone and Android applications will be available as well as its free suite of business owner tools: Yelp for Business Owners.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General on Thursday reported a 1.5% rise in fourth-quarter profits, below analysts’ estimates, as the retailer felt the impact of harsh winter weather, along with increased competition and low consumer confidence. The company also said it plans to open approximately 700 new stores in 2014.

The retailer earned $322.2 million in the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $317.4 million a year earlier.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly had early notice of the holiday data breach that exposed the personal and financial information of millions of customers but did not act upon it. According to Bloomberg, a $1.6 million security application called FireEye notified Target of a possible intrusion in to its network, but the retailer failed to respond.

An unrelenting Dollar General continues to push forward with plans to open 700 stores this year despite reporting weak financial results and a 1.3% same-store sales increase for the fourth quarter.

Not many retailers can say they were very pleased with exceptional results during a compressed holiday season and challenging fourth quarter, but Steinmart did.

Same-store sales increased 3.1% for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, while total sales for the 13-week period declined to $360.8 million from $368.6 million because the fourth quarter the prior year included an extra week, which added sales of $15.8 million to the prior-year period.

It’s official. Amazon is raising the membership fee for Prime and Student Prime customers.

The company sent out emails today to Prime and Student Prime consumers letting them know of the new fees. Prime customers will be paying an annual rate of $99 whenever their membership renews — that’s up from $79 per year.

Student Prime consumers will pay $49 a year, up from $39. Students with questions about renewal rates should click here for details.